Boeing Promises Changes After FAA's Quality Audit
(NEWSnet/AP) – Boeing said Tuesday that it would work with employees found to have violated company manufacturing procedures to make sure they understand instructions for their jobs.
In a memo to employees from Stan Deal, president of Boeing’s commercial plane division, the aircraft maker detailed its latest steps to correct lapses in quality. The memo was issued after the Federal Aviation Administration finished its review of the company’s manufacturing processes for the 737 Max jetliner after a panel blew off one of the planes during an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5.
[Earlier Report: Buttigieg Says Boeing Needs to Make 'Serious Transformation']
One of the details that emerged recently is that the day before the blowout on Alaska Airlines flight 1282, engineers and technicians at the airline wanted to remove the plane from service to examine a warning light tied to the plane’s pressurization system.
Instead, the airline scheduled a maintenance check for the following night, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
In between those steps, however, a door-plug panel blew off the jet 16,000 feet over Oregon.
A few days after the blowout, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the warnings were unrelated to the accident.
During its review, the FAA reviewed 89 aspects of production at Boeing’s plant in Renton, Washington, and found the company failed 33 of them, according to a person familiar with the report. “The vast majority” of violations found by the FAA involved workers not following Boeing’s approved procedures, Deal said in his memo.
Deal said the company will take remedial steps that include “working with each employee noted with a non-compliance during the audit to ensure they fully understand the work instructions and procedures.”
Boeing will also add weekly compliance checks for all work teams in the Renton factory, where Max jets are assembled, he said.
Deal acknowledged a recent conclusion by a panel of government and industry experts that found Boeing’s procedures for ensuring safety were too complicated and changed too often.
“Our teams are working to simplify and streamline our processes and address the panel’s recommendations,” he told staff.
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